Three's a crowd
by NoxInvictus
Summary: Rukia finds herself having to make some tough decisions as she explores life in the real world. Renji descovers some hidden secrets about his past. Ichigo finds himself trapped in another dimension. An unpredictable tale of a love triangle.
1. Early sunrise

Rukia sat gazing out across to East Rukongai where the sun was rising and spreading its light down the dusty streets. _Today is the day_, she thought, today is the day she would have to decide whether to resume her position in real world saving souls, or to except Renji's offer and stay here to train for the on coming battle. She had already spent several sleepless nights thinking on the matter, but she was stuck in a catch-22 situation; she would have to part with either Ichigo or Renji, neither of which she wanted to be far from. She leaned back on her elbows; the grass was still damp with morning dew. The tree above here swayed gently with the summer breeze.

Suddenly something small, yellow and fluffy fell from the tree and landed on the ground next to her. For a moment it lay motionless and then it got to its feet and made a flying leap towards Rukia.

"Nee-san!!" Kon leapt towards her his arms outstretched.

Rukia smacked him away and he landed back on the ground several yards away with an 'oomph'. Unperturbed by this he got to his feet and dusted his knees off. Rukia couldn't help but laugh at the stuffed animal. He pulled up a patch of grass next to her and just as he opened his mouth to speak there was a crunching of gravel behind them and they both turned round. An orange spiky hair could be seen climbing the steps and then as it approached there was a visible Zanpaktou on his back. Ichigo halted once he reached the top of the steps. His left arm was wrapped tightly in a bandage and Rukia remembered watching helplessly as he had fought almost to his death to protect her from Kariya. There was a half smile on his face.

"I was told I might find you here. We just got clearance to open the portal, we will be leaving in an hour," there was a hopeful undertone in his voice that sent butterflies fluttering through Rukia's stomach. She couldn't bring herself to respond to instead nodded and turned her gaze back to the silhouetted rooftops of Rukongai. She heard Ichigo descend back down the steps.

A small voice beside her made her jump. She had forgotten that Kon was still sitting there. "What are you going to do?"

"I…I really don't know." Her voice broke as tears welled in her eyes.

Alarmed Kon tried putting his arm round her awkwardly; it was rare for Kon to ever be awkward in the presence of any girl. Rukia tried to smile at him for his efforts. She then grabbed her small satchel and ran back down the steps leaving a bewildered Kon looking after her.

She came to a halt outside a wooden door. She was out of breath from running and took a few moments to compose herself. She then knelt on the ground and had just moved to slide the door open when it opened. Byakuya Kuchiki stood in the doorway apparently he had been aware of her arrival. His expression was stony as ever and unreadable. Rukia looked up, searching for some sort of answer in his eyes, but they were like two black glass marbles glazed over so that nothing could penetrate them.

"I…" She began to speak but he interrupted her.

"I know what you have come to ask. Don't. I am not about to give you an opinion. But I shall tell you this as a captain. With the high levels of spirit energy in Karakura town more and more menos and hollow are being drawn there, if you can spare the time I know that Ichigo could do with the help out there, his skills are still unpredictable." He then stepped past her and vanished.

Rukia leant against the door frame and sighed, it felt as though he had confirmed her thoughts; although for some reason it felt like it was the answer she hadn't wanted to hear.

Ichigo stood before the gate, it was huge and towered above him. He turned to look to see if everyone was here. Ishida, Orihime, Chad, Kon, everyone was here. He was about to turn back to the gate when he caught sight of a small figure running toward him. It was Rukia. He felt his heart skip a beat. She had come after all. She stopped next to everyone else panting for breath. They said nothing but the gazed at each other for a long moment before turning back to the gate. He rested his hands on the cool metal and it began to shudder under his touch and suddenly the gate had vanished into a great beam of bluish white light. Ichigo was the first to step through it, for a moment he was surrounded by cool damp air and then he was being pushed through back into the sunlight and he fell from several feet on the grass of a local park.

Rukia watched as everyone passed through the gate one-by-one. She was the last one left she took a deep breath and stepped forwards. She felt a hand grab her wrist and she turned round. Renji stood there holding onto her.

"Don't go" though his voice was steady his eyes were silently pleading with her.

"I am sorry Renji, please, don't do this" Rukia turned her head back to the gate, she couldn't look at him. But his other hand turned her head back towards him. He looked intently at her and then after what seemed an age he finally spoke.

"Look after yourself…" His grip fell loose and he turned to walk slowly back. Rukia stood a moment longer watching after him and finally with a heavy heart she walked through the gate.


	2. News update

Momentarily she was surrounded by cold air and she was running through a long tunnel and then she fell through the other side. The gate had opened only a few foot above the ground and she landed softly on the freshly cut grass of a football pitch. She sat up, dazed, around her lay her friends, each of them were getting to their feet and wiping off the dirt. A hand stretched out towards her to help her up, she looked up and the sunlight lit the silhouette of Ichigo. His expression was unreadable but the happiness seemed to radiate off him.

"We will come with you to Urahara's store; I have a few things I need to ask him anyway," he said.

Rukia smiled to herself as she walked along the road side; she had almost missed the city air and the noise of the busy traffic. It was good to be back. A newspaper front cover blew past them in the wind and caught on the railings of some steps. Absently Rukia picked it up and glanced over the headlines.

"UNEXPLAINED; DEATHS, NOISES AND DESTROYED BUILDINGS. THE POLICE ARE YET TO MAKE A STATEMENT."

She gasped when she caught sight of the picture causing the others to halt and look at her. Hastily Orihime leant over her shoulder to look. She too gave a sound of horror. The photograph showed many men and women in blue suits digging through the rubble of a destroyed school, Karakura high school.

"Was anyone hurt?" Uryu asked.

Rukia's eyes darted over the article and then the paper fell loosely to her side. "Two boys in the year bellow us were trapped in the building and died before anyone managed to discover them. There's also a girl from first year and...one severely injured, Tatsuki."

A deadly silence ran through the group as if the air had been sucked from them. Finally Ichigo snatched at the paper and read through the article for himself. As he read lines across his forehead began to appear and deepen, before he scrunched it up and flung in against a nearby wall. He swore under his breath. No one knew what to say, they each knew he would blame himself; despite the fact he couldn't have done anything. Uneasily Rukia stretched out her hand and rested it on his shoulder, but he shrugged off the gesture. He turned and headed off down the street without a word. Everyone watched after him but were too afraid to follow.

"Let him see her by himself first, we will go first thing tomorrow. For now we need to see Urahara." Chad stated.

A mournful group continued down the road in the other direction and finally came to a stop outside a shabby little store. It was small inside and tucked away from most other shops; it didn't look like it often had customers. They all crammed in the doorway and were greeted by Jinta. His red hair stood up in its usual odd angle and momentarily he was surprised to see them all. He was about to speak when Ururu appeared, a broom in hand. She smiled warmly and greeted them all. They had clearly made a fair amount of noise in arriving as moments later Urahara poked his head out from one of the doors.

"It's so good to see you again Rukia" he beamed while fanning himself constantly, despite the warm night air floating in through the still ajar door.

After the usual greetings they all sat huddled around a small round table loaded with food provided by Tessai, who seemed pleased at the extra company. Urahara had just finished explaining the recent appearances of Hollows around the town and how they had been increasing rapidly.

"Yes, it will be a good thing that Ichigo is back; all the work they have been causing me lately is exhausting." Urahara chuckled.

There was a knock on the door and they all turned round, expecting to see Ichigo returned from the hospital. Instead however, Captain Hitsugaya stood panting in the doorway his face gauged in blood.


	3. Ambush

Ichigo had spent almost an hour arguing with the nurse of the ward, trying to get her to agree to let him see Tatsuki. Finally he explained he was her brother. Reluctantly the nurse lead him to Tatsuki's bed, she drew back the curtain and Ichigo muffled a cry as he saw the stitches still covered in dried blood that ran the length of her cheek and bandages were wrapped tightly round her forehead. He was only half listening as the nurse explained she had suffered a fatal blow to the head and had somehow survived, she was still in a coma but should be waking up anytime soon. However, her mental state and her memory may be very damaged. Ichigo's knees felt like jelly and he fell into the chair next to the bed.

Tatsuki looked so innocent and helpless where she lay. Ichigo can't remember a time where Tatsuki had ever looked that way; she had always showed a brave boyish front. She was even more tough that he was most the time. But now...she lay unconscious and he was struck by just how pretty she really was. He rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands and choked back the tears that had arisen. He stretched out a hand and closed it around one of hers.

"I am sorry, I always promised to protect you and I didn't. I should have been there for you. I will find who did this to you, and he will pay. Just you focus on getting better." He could feel a steady pulse beneath his fingers and in some ways it comforted him. Her grip suddenly tightened around his hand. Ichigo looked up hopefully but her eyes were still closed. Perhaps, where ever she was right now, his words had reached her.

Hitsugaya sat impatiently as Tessai dabbed at his wounds with a hot flannel. Although he looked awful, it was clear he wasn't too badly hurt. Everyone was croweded in the room and waited on baited breath for him to explain his presence.

"We were attacked. They came out of nowhere. They must have been waiting for us, but I couldn't sense their reiatsu. They were far more powerful than any hollow I have ever encountered. We didn't have time to react. There must have been at least ten of them, but they moved so fast it was hard to tell. They...they took Matsumoto." His voice trailed away and there was a hushed silence.

"Where did they take her?" Rukia asked.

Toshiro's face contorted with pain, "I don't know, they vanished into thin air..."

No one could find words for him. Urahara had vanished into his study and there was unease in the air. Ichigo pulled back the door, his expression was blank.

"What's everyone standing around for?" he asked.

Everyone exchanged glances and finally Uryu spoke, "Some unknown hollow with no reiatsu ambushed captain Hitsugaya and Masumoto on their way here, they took Matsumoto. We don't know where they are. They might be the same creatures that attacked the school."

Ichigo's eyes flashed in the direction of Toshiro who's wounds had now been treated. He felt sympathy towards him as he knew how he must be feeling. Without a word he turned and headed towards Urahara's office.


	4. Urahara's office

Ichigo knocked and waited for a response. He heard a rustling of papers and footsteps from within, the door then slid open. Urahara stood in front of him, for once he was not bubbly and flapping his fan about the place, instead his expression was sombre and the grey rings around his eyes seemed even darker. He slid the door further aside to allow Ichigo to pass through. The room was large and the walls were lined with varying degrees of aging books. Most of the light poured through a skylight in the centre of the room, though the light did not reach the corners. Towards the back of the room was a large mahogany desk that was littered with piles of papers. Urahara sat in a leathered chair and indicated at a wooden chair opposite for Ichigo to sit. Ichigo curiously let his eyes flutter across the papers, many of them, to his surprise, were in different languages; French, Latin, Hebrew and even what looked like Egyptian. Urahara caught his gaze and snatched at the papers. Once the majority of the papers had been stuffed into draws he took a long deep breath.

"What do you know about what is happening?" Ichigo demanded.

"I wish I knew more. I can tell you what I do know though. The creatures are working for someone known as Dracoria, they transport between this world and theirs at high speed, this may be why we can not detect their reiatsu; it may also be why they were able to attack Hitsugaya and Matsumoto the way they did." Urahara paused for a moment of thought.

Ichigo still wanted to know more, "how can we get to this world?"

A smile crossed Urahara's lips; he has expected Ichigo to ask this. "I am waiting for some results from the soul society, hopefully that might confirm my thoughts. Until then, we shall wait." He said this with a definitive tone, which suggested Ichigo shouldn't question him any further. Reluctantly Ichigo backed out the room and closed the door behind him.

His head was still buzzing with questions and he wasn't looking where he was going, he yelped as he collided with Orihime.

"Orihime, I am so sorry, I didn't see you there."

"It's ok," she beamed at him, "I was just coming to look for you. What did the doctors say about Tatsuki?"

Oh, of course. Poor Orihime was probably beating herself up as much as he was over what happened to Tatsuki. "It's not your fault you know, we couldn't have done anything. She's in a stable condition, but she still hasn't woken up. We can go see her first thing in the morning if you like?"

He saw her bottom lip begin to tremble and he awkwardly put his arm round her. She began to sob into his chest. Ichigo could feel her body shaking beneath him, in that moment he promised himself never to let anything happen to upset her again, he never wanted to her Orihime unhappy.

"I'm sorry," she said between sniffles, "It's been so long since I spent time with Tatsuki, I feel guilty for not being there. What if she hadn't of made it?"

"No use going over the '_what ifs_' that won't get us anywhere. The important thing is that she is ok and we can make up for lost time now."

Orihime smiled through her tears.


End file.
